PRACTICING AN ART, NO MATTER HOW WELL OR BADLY, IS A WAY TO MAKE YOUR SOUL GROW, FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE. KURT VONNEGUT
IN RESIDENCE: FROM THE COLLECTION OF ZARYA CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

The Zarya Center for Contemporary Art will show a selection of works from its collection, built up over the past 5 years of the artist residency program.

Since the moment it launched in December 2014, the Zarya artist-in-residence program has welcomed artists from 17 countries to realize more than 80 proposals, dedicated to rethinking the local geopolitical, social and cultural landscape. On March 2, the Zarya Center for Contemporary Art will open the exhibition “IN RESIDENCE: From the Collection of Zarya Center for Contemporary Art,” which selects from the creative proposals and art works created by artists during their residencies.

Throughout its tenure, the Zarya Center for Contemporary Art has seen its mission as increasing Vladivostok’s significance as a point on the map where creative life is flourishing. Zarya strives to serve as an independent platform for creative production and a professional dialogue about art. The artist residency program has become a key instrument for attaining those goals. Thanks to the open format of the residency, Zarya has managed to bring together the resources of many artists and researchers to unpack the manifestation of the local landscape within the discourse of contemporary art. Among those who have participated in the residency and whose works will be on display in this exhibition are Dmitry Bulnygin, Irina Zatulovskaya, Olga Kroitor, Sergey Shutov, Hong Jinhwon (South Korea), Fabian Knecht (Germany), Elizaveta Konovalova (Russia, France), Alexander Morozov, Natalya Pershina-Yakimanskaya (Glukyla) (Russia, the Netherlands), Elena Redaelii (Italy), Ма Haijiao (China), Sarah Hillebrecht (Germany), Sarawut Chutiwongpeti (Thailand), the collective, Searching Utopia (Finland) and many others.

The first exhibition from the Zarya collection gathers works that are dedicated to the Primorsky Krai in one space in order to forge new links between the artistic approaches of the residents to the study of the territory, culminating in the creation of a new “portrait of the place.” The perspectives from which the artists consider Vladivostok and the Primorsky Krai are not just aesthetic; in their projects, the artists raise many important social, historical and ethical questions. Among the selections are works reflecting on the theme of the specific features of the region’s natural landscape, the history and memory of the Gulag, the history of the Zarya factory and the women who once worked the sewing machines, the contemporary urban environment and social boundaries.

The presentation of this collection results not only in the spectacular display of the results of five years of work, but also in a means to evaluate those results critically. The audience can get to know this portrait of Primorye, created by Russian and international artists alike, up until May 26.

Exhibition Curators: Alisa Bagdonaite, Andrey Vasilenko, Adel Kim

Participating Artists:

Dmitry Bulnygin (Russia), Sarawut Chutiwongpeti (Thailand), Tatyana Efrussi (Russia, France), EVOL (Germany), Alexander Florensky (Russia), Olga Florenskaya (Russia), Ма Haijiao (China), Leif Holmstrand (Sweden), Sarah Hillebrecht (Germany), Hong Jinhwon (South Korea), Fabian Knecht (Germany), Elizaveta Konovalova (Russia, France), Olga Kroitor (Russia), Sasha Kurmaz (Ukraine), Lyokha G. (Russia), Alexander Morozov (Russia), Anastasia Potemkina (Russia), Natalya Pershina-Yakimanskaya (Glukyla) (Russia, the Netherlands), Elena Redaelii (Italy), SASHAPASHA (Russia, Finland), Sergey Shutov (Russia), Anastasia Tsayder (Russia), Mikhail Zaikanov (Russia), Searching Utopia (Finland), Irina Zatulovskaya (Russia).